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Most artists have a slang word or hand gesture that they use to represent their hometown. The rap group Young Blood, usually make an "A" with their left index and middle fingers and right index finger, as a way to display the fact that they are from Atlanta, also more informally known as the A. T. L. Out of the bonds and strong holds of slavery festered a cultural trend, which has sense became known as hip-hop. In spite of the vicious and malicious attempts made by White Americans to keep slaves apart through the bonds, holds, and cultural deprivation of slavery has emerged a cultural that can no longer be hidden and denied, Hip-hop.
Hip-hop has served to be the common force that holds together people of different races, cultures, political backgrounds, and even different genders, like the glue that holds broken glass. Another incarnation of hip-hop which is break dancing deserves a particular discussion as well. Breakdancing has a vast history that involves many important people, some who saw it as a way to express feelings, causing new moves to be invented. It was started where it was least expected, with James Brown and the Good Foot. After that people such as Afrika Bambaataa started getting ideas, a new way to dance came into play. In 1969, James Brown came out with his new hit record Get on the Good Foot.
Then at one of his performances he busted out with the Good Foot, starting a whole new dance craze. The best way to describe the Good Foot is to imagine a majority marching in a parade taking steps high at the knee but keeping the leg raised at the knee in the air for a beat before dropping it down and simultaneously raising the other leg. The Good Foot also brought along moves such as floating and even the moonwalk. Soon enough the Good Foot evolved into break dancing, which was perfectly suited for competition. The best break dancers or B-boys as they were commonly known, in opposing gangs would battle dance wise instead of fighting. They would dance over turf, or because someone stepped on someone elses shoe.
Oftentimes, a battle would be to gain each others' respect. Although breaking would sometimes cause fights, to a large extent, breaking replaced fighting in the Bronx. It was because of the dance battles that break dancing crews were formed. Crews were and still are groups of people who dance and perform together. Formal crews were soon formed, they not only performed together, but they also developed their own dance routines. Some crews became very dedicated to their dancing and would spend hours a day practicing, making up new dance moves, increasing their speed, and improving their form.
Then the legendary grandmaster Dj Afrika Bambaataa came along. Bambaataa, born Kevin Donovan in the Bronx on April 10, 1960, is not called the grandmaster Dj for no reason. In 1982 he came out with the hip-hop classic Planet Rock, which blended beats of hip-hop with techno-pop futurism. Before that, in 1977 to be exact, Bambaataa started organizing not only block parties, but break dancing competitions around the Bronx (web). Bambaataa saw breaking as more than just dancing, he saw it as a way to achieve something.
He saw the potential in break dancing and encouraged dancers to keep on dancing. Afrika Bambaataa told them to work hard and to believe that if they kept at it, something good would come of all their hard work. Soon after, Bambaataa created one of the first professional break dancing crews around 1974 called the Zulu Kings, also a part of the Zulu Nation. The Zulu Nation is a community organization formed by the one and only Afrika Bambaataa.
The Zulu Kings won many battles and talent shows and performed in clubs across New York. Old-school break dancing remained popular until around 1977. Then a new dance craze called The Freak took over. A new break dancing crew was finally organized around 1979 - The Rock Steady Crew. The Rock Steady Crew was especially talented, but a lot of people put them down for being old fashioned. But not Bambaataa.
He encouraged them, telling them that one day something good would come of their dancing- - and he was right. The Rock Steady Crew of today is one of the biggest and most talented crews around. The current members are Crazy Legs, Prince Ken Swift, Baby Love, Buck 4, Kurkiaki, and Doze. Each member is incredibly talented and has been featured in at least one, if not more, break dancing films.
The Rock Steady Crew kept the original foundation of break dancing, which is footwork, but they also added a lot of acrobatic moves, creating a new style of breaking. This new style of break dancing is commonly known as new-school breaking. New-school breaking included moves such as headpins, backspin's, halides, and windmills. There are two categories that moves fit under in breaking, power moves and basic moves.
Power moves involve being able to hold ones body off the ground using only ones hands, shoulders, or head. Some power moves include flares, 1990 s, halos, turtles, headpins, and windmills. Flares are very popular moves and one of the crowds favorites. Flares involve being able to throw ones legs around in circles with only ones hands touching the ground. 1990 s are a fairly new move, as the name indicates. This move is also a very complicated and should only be attempted by people who have been breaking for quite some time. A 1990 is performed by being able to spin ones body around in circles on one hand while upside down.
Halos can be incredibly dangerous if not performed correctly. Halos are being able to spin upside down using hands and shoulders. Turtles are another popular move in breaking, this involves being able to spin around in a horizontal position only using ones hands. A headpin is exactly what it sounds like, being able to spin on ones head.
Windmills are the most common move in break dancing, but that does not make them the easiest. A windmill is performed by being able to spin on the front and back of the body while keeping the legs split apart. (web)
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Research essay sample on Break Dancing Hip Hop
